Tuesday 03 February 2015, Birmingham
1-day course: Science of Targeted Cancer Treatments
Level: advanced (Designed for experienced research nurses and clinical trials staff with a biology background. Also suitable for medical students and junior doctors.)
Description: This course covers a wide range of licensed and experimental cancer treatments, explaining their mechanism of action at a molecular and cellular level. It also contains detailed information on mechanisms of drug resistance and discusses the future of personalised cancer medicine.
To book, contact: Selina Bell (selina.bell@nihr.ac.uk)
Programme
From benign beginnings to metastatic disease
- Genomic instability as the underlying cause of the hallmarks of cancer cells
- The hallmarks explained
- The role of the tumour microenvironment, cancer stem cells and the EMT
Targets and treatments part 1
- Cell communication as a key drug target
- The development and manufacture of monoclonal antibodies (mAb’s) & small molecule Kinase inhibitors (TKI’s)
- Comparison of mAb’s and TKI’s
Targets and treatments part 2
- Inhibitors of Receptor Tyrosine Kinases (eg. EGF-Receptor &HER2)
- B-Raf and MEK inhibitors
- PI3K, AKT & mTOR inhibitors
Targets and treatments part 3
- Angiogenesis inhibitors (including thalidomide and derivatives)
- ALK inhibitors
- PARP inhibitors
Novel innovations to combat cancer
- Targeting the hedgehog pathway
- Immunotherapy
- HSP90 inhibitors
Clinical trials and biomarkers
- Considerations and new concepts in clinical trial design for targeted treatments
- Case studies of the drug development process: gefitinib and crizotinib
- The use of biomarkers to predict patient response